The left atrial appendage (LAA) is a small conical projection in the upper anterior portion of the left atrium of a heart. In certain heart conditions (e.g., abnormal heart conditions), there is a possibility of blood accumulating in the LAA, which may lead to formation of clots/emboli. The clots may migrate to the circulatory system and cause serious problems, such as a stroke.
There exist various medical devices to block emboli formed in the LAA from entering the circulatory system. These medical devices may need an anchor mechanism for fixation with the LAA so as to prevent migration (e.g., acute, chronic) of the devices from the LAA to other areas of the left atrium. The anchor mechanism may generally include fins or barbs that can hold onto tissues of the LAA. The anchor mechanism (e.g., fins or barbs) is fabricated as an integral part of the medical device.
This integration of the anchor mechanism into a medical device can increase the length of the medical device and reduce its radial strength. The process of fabricating the anchor mechanism, as an integral structure of the medical device, may complicate the manufacturing process and thereby increase cost of production. The integration of the anchor mechanism may result in anchor mechanism dimensions being influenced by the medical device requirements. In the case of the integral structure, various dimensions of the anchor mechanism are dependent on the medical device's parameters; for example, profile, wall thickness and the like. This may restrict the ability to increase or decrease the dimensions or strength of the anchor mechanism. Removal of the medical device with the integrated anchor mechanism from the body can also be difficult and may bear an increased risk of tissue damage.
Thus, there exists a need for improved medical devices that reduce or eliminate one or more deficiencies of previous medical devices.
Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure, a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the present disclosure is provided below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments and/or additional embodiments of the present disclosure can be found in the detailed description.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.
All US patents and applications, and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference, each in its entirety.